URL Mod-Rewrite Workaround for IIS 6.0 and WordPress

by John on September 15th, 2009

I found that the existing solution for using pretty permalinks with WordPress and IIS is good

and lightweight, but I needed something a little more robust that fixed as many differences as possible between Apache and IIS.

This code uses the same idea as the above, but fixes more values in _SERVER and resolves a problem with _GET. It will also work with later versions (2.8+) of WordPress.

<?php
// This is the default file for the site. Usually index.php
$default = 'index.php';

// The name of this file.
// Set this value for the URL in Custom Error Properties of your website in IIS.
// Goto: IIS Manager > Websites > [Site Name] > Properties > Custom Errors >
// 404 & 404;2 & 404;3 > URL (Requires a '/' prefix in IIS).
$thisfile = '404-handler.php';

$_SERVER['ORIG_PATH_TRANSLATED'] = str_replace($thisfile, $default, $_SERVER['ORIG_PATH_TRANSLATED']);
$_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'] = str_replace($thisfile, $default, $_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']);
$_SERVER['ORIG_PATH_INFO'] = str_replace($thisfile, $default, $_SERVER['ORIG_PATH_INFO']);
$_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'] = str_replace($thisfile, $default, $_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME']);
$_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] = str_replace($thisfile, $default, $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']);
$_SERVER['PATH_INFO'] = false;

$qs =& $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'];
$ru =& $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
$pos = strrpos($qs, '://');
$pos = strpos($qs, '/', $pos + 4);
$_SERVER['URL'] = $ru = substr($qs, $pos);
$qs = trim(stristr($ru, '?'), '?');

// Required for WordPress 2.8+
$_SERVER['HTTP_X_ORIGINAL_URL'] = $ru;

// Fix GET vars
foreach ( $_GET as $var => $val ) {
  if ( substr($var, 0, 3) == '404') {
    if ( strstr($var, '?') ) {
      $newvar = substr($var, strpos($var, '?') + 1);
      $_GET[$newvar] = $val;
    }
    unset($_GET[$var]);
  }
  break;
}
include($default);
?>

From → Development

116 Comments →

Nicole permalink

You are an absolute genius. This seems to be the only thing that worked for me.
However, the only problem I’m having is that the Flash application I have on my homepage stops working. Why do you think it does this, and how do I fix it?
Richard permalink

Thanks for this solution! Is there a way for actual 404s to redirect to a page using the 404.php template in my theme directory? Currently invalid URLs that would normally return a 404 show up blank.
Chris Quinn permalink

You are a lifesaver, I used this for a client that had Windows Hosting and insisted on a wordpress website design. The permalink structure for it was horrible and I know would ruin his search engine optimization strategy of having nice links. Thanks again for this great tutorial!
juicy couture permalink

it is very helpfull!thanks
Phillip Dan permalink

very helpful and useful with me, thanks for tip !

Dan
Morning Copy permalink

This worked a treat. I had no idea that WordPress could work on a Windows machine.
Surfista permalink

Won’t this cause all pages pages deeper than the homepage to return a 404 status?

This would be horrible from an SEO perspective!

Please advise.
nyckidd permalink

Awesome dude!!!!
Suzi @ppc permalink

omg thank you! I couldn’t get permalinks working for my new landing pages – found out it’s on IIS6
Eric permalink

The code is work on my site, but there is a problem with the feed http://www.crusherinc.com/News/feed

How to solve it?
Tim permalink

I did everything like the article says, but still, after changing the perrmalinks configuration, and setting the wp-404-handler file, I am getting the “page not found” error.
Bruce permalink

In Windows Server 2000 (IIS 5) running PHP 5, I was seeing the following message: “PHP Notice: Undefined index: ORIG_PATH_TRANSLATED in wp-404-handler.php on line 11″.

I modified line 11 to:

$_SERVER['PATH_TRANSLATED'] = str_replace($thisfile, $default, $_SERVER['PATH_TRANSLATED']);

and that seems to have fixed the error.

In other words, change ORIG_PATH_TRANSLATED to PATH_TRANSLATED.
Beni Ariyanto permalink

it is very helpfull, Thanks
Austin tree Service permalink

While there are actually many details of tree services which unfortunately I want to
study, I appreciate that which you have outlined in this article,
URL Mod-Rewrite Workaround for IIS 6.0 and WordPress | ikailo, as it truly helps me get
a deeper understanding.
Steve permalink

I was able to resolve the issue with your suggested changes. Great work!!

OS: Windows 2003
WordPress: 3.5
Abhishek Jaiswal permalink

I have used the method given in below blog link and this also worked like a charm.

http://www.zappmania.in/index.php/2013/03/27/getting-wordpress-pretty-permalinks-working-on-iis-windows-hosting/
garcinia extract review permalink

I do agree with all of the ideas you’ve introduced for your post. They are very convincing and can certainly work. Nonetheless, the posts are too brief for newbies. May you please lengthen them a little from next time? Thanks for the post.
クリスチャンルブタン permalink

Good info. Lucky me I came across your blog
by chance (stumbleupon). I have bookmarked it for later!

URL Mod-Rewrite Workaround for IIS 6.0 and WordPress

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

Leave a Reply

Recent Articles

About

Recent Comments

Search